NUR 113: DISASTER NURSING

STUDENT ACTIVITY SHEET BS NURSING / FOURTH YEAR

Session # 14

LESSON TITLE: Restoring Public Health Under Disaster

Conditions: Basic Sanitation, Water, Food Supply and Shelter Materials:
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Book, pen and notebook
Upon completion of this lesson, the nursing student can:

1. Describe the essential functions of public health as they

relate to a disaster.
2. Describe the importance of a clean environment as a References:
foundation for good health.
3. Appraise both risks and resources in the environment to Veenema, T.G. (2019) Disaster Nursing and
meet the basic needs (food, water, shelter and safety for Emergency Preparedness for Chemical,
survival). Biological, and Radiological Terrorism and other
4. Discuss the major health risks in a population affected by Hazards 4th Edition
disaster and identify and prioritize according to prevention /
control of disease, epidemics and other hazards.
5. Describe rapid environment assessment (REA).
6. Describe the Sphere Project Humanitarian Standards for
disaster response.

LESSON PREVIEW/REVIEW (5 minutes)

Instruction: Explain at least 5 core principles of MPHSS.

MAIN LESSON (40 minutes)

Basic Public Health Function
The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being
and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Public health is the profession, discipline and a system for providing
healthcare to communities.

3 Core Functions of Public Health:

1. Assessment
2. Policy development
3. Assurance

This document and the information thereon is the property of PHINMA

Education (Department of Nursing) 1 of 6
Essential Functions of Public Health as they relate to a Disaster:
1. Monitoring health status to identify and solve community health problems.
2. Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community.
3. Inform, educate and empower people about health issues.
4. Mobilize community partnerships and action to identify and solve health problems.
5. Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.
6. Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety.
7. Monitoring health status to identify and solve community health problems.
8. Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community.
9. Inform, educate and empower people about health issues.
10. Mobilize community partnerships and action to identify and solve health problems.
11. Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.
12. Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety.
13. Link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of healthcare when otherwise
unavoidable.
14. Assure competent public and personal health care workforce.
15. Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility and quality personal and population-based health services.
16. Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health care problems.

Health Promotion

“Health Promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over and to improve their health. (WHO,
1986, 2009). In health promotion, empowerment is a process through which people gain greater control over decisions
and actions affecting their health. Empowerment may be a social, cultural and psychological or political process through
which individuals and social groups are able to express their needs, present their concerns, devise strategies for
involvement in decision making and achieve political, social and cultural action to meet these needs (WHO 2009).

In disaster situations, the use of organized efforts to eliminate hazards and restore environment and its inhabitants to
their optimal level of health becomes more important.

The Goals of Health Promotion in Disaster Nursing are as follows:

▪ To meet the immediate basic survival needs of populations affected by disasters (water, food, shelter and
security).
▪ To identify the potential for a secondary disaster.
▪ To appraise both risks and resources in the environment.
▪ To correct inequalities in access to health care or appropriate resources.
▪ To empower survivors to participate an and advocate for their own health and well-being.
▪ To respect cultural, lingual and religious diversity in individuals and families to apply their principle in all health
promotion activities.
▪ To promote the highest achievable quality of life survivors.

To achieve these goals, nurse must have a social understanding the basic principle of environmental health methods
of health promotion and disease prevention strategies. They must also maintain competencies in these areas in order to
collaborate with other members of the team who provide health care. It was Florence Nightingale, who was first
illustrated for nurse the importance of understanding environmental principles.

Abraham Maslow is recognized for having established a theory of hierarchy of human needs. Based on his
prioritization, Maslow grouped and ordered and ordered human needs into categories according to their primacy.

This document and the information thereon is the property of PHINMA

Education (Department of Nursing) 2 of 6
 The nature of environment has a direct impact in a community’s health on the quality of life of its inhabitants.
“Quality of Life” is an individual perception of his or her positions in life in the context of the culture and value
of system where the individual lives and in relation to personal goals, expectations, standards and concerns,
(WHO 2009). Disaster nursing practice also seeks to promote changes in behaviors that will compensate for
disrupted physiological conditions. At the same time, health promotion and disease prevention activities must
occur simultaneously in the immediate outcome of a disaster.

Risks Factors for Infectious Disease Outbreaks from Disaster:

Several risk factors can lead to post disaster disease outbreaks, such as WASH (water, sanitation and
hygiene), alterations in disease vector distributions and issues with housing and shelter problems. Following a
disaster, continuous monitoring of the environment will allow nurses to immediately address potential
hazards.
1. Age
2. Immunosuppressive diseases such as cancer
3. Immunosuppressive medications such as steroids
4. Not getting vaccinated
5. Stress
6. Overcrowding in shelters and camps
7. Malnutrition
8. Exposure to extreme hot and cold temperature
9. Open wounds

Rapid Assessment of Population Health Needs:

Conducting a rapid comprehensive assessment of population health requirements is one of the most
important public health tasks in a disaster. The process consists of the following elements:
1. Data collection for assessment of needs.
2. Identification of available resources that match defined needs.
3. Prevention of further health effects associated with the event.

Initial Data Collection as part of the Rapid Assessment should include the following:
1. An assessment of the current circumstances and quality of life of the victims- location, demographic data,
routes of access, modes of transportation, communication systems, availability of basic services (water,
electricity, communications, sanitation facilities, housing and shelters) and availability of food.

This document and the information thereon is the property of PHINMA

Education (Department of Nursing) 3 of 6
 2. The scope of the damage- the number of deaths, the number of persons injured, the number who have
disappeared, the number of displaced and their location, the status and capacity of health care facilities,
urgent needs, human and material resources in the immediate area.

Other Data Points for Collection include the Following:

1. The presence of an immediate or potential hazard (eg persistent toxic smoke or potential for chemical leak or
spill.
2. The community’s need for immediate outside assistance
3. The augmentation of existing public health surveillance for ongoing monitoring of health needs.

The Role of the Public Health Nurse Following a Disaster:

▪ Assessing the affected community for the presence (or absence) of the fundamentals for health-
clean water, safe food, sanitation and shelter.
▪ Reestablishing the sanitary barriers that protect communities from environmental hazards.
▪ Detecting changes in the integrity of the environment and organizing activities designed to eliminate
or mitigate existing health hazards.
▪ Planning for continuous maintenance and monitoring of facilities basic to health regarding proper
waste removal, adequate water and food supplies, shelter and personal safety.
▪ Responding aggressively to evidence of the transmission of disease to ameliorate the spread of an
epidemic throughout the population.
▪ Respecting and empowering affected individuals by giving them decision-making rights regarding all
pertinent public health issues.

The Sphere Project:

It was developed in 1997. This project was published a set of standards in core areas of humanitarian
response.
AIM: To improve the quality of humanitarian response in situation of disaster and conflict; and to enhance
The accountability of the humanitarian system to disaster-affected people.

The Sphere Project of 2018

It was published, revised and updated the standards reflecting recent developments in humanitarian
practice in water, sanitation, food, shelter and health based on feedback from practitioners in the field,
research institutes, and experts

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING (10 minutes)

You will answer and rationalize this by yourself. This will be recorded as your quiz. One (1) point will be given to correct
answer and another one (1) point for the correct ratio. Superimpositions or erasures in you answer/ratio is not allowed.
You are given 10 minutes for this activity:

Multiple Choice

1. It is a state of complete physical, mental and social well -being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
a. Hygiene
b. Sanitation
c. Health
d. Infection control

ANSWER: ________
RATIONALE:_______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

2. The 3 core functions of Public Health are the following, except:

a. Assessment
b. Policy development
c. Assurance

This document and the information thereon is the property of PHINMA

Education (Department of Nursing) 4 of 6
 d. Assistance

ANSWER: ________
RATIONALE:_______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

3. It is an individual perception of his/her position in life in the context of the culture and value of system where
the individual lives and in relation to a personal goals, expectations and concerns.
a. Health promotion
b. Health assessment
c. Quality of life
d. Rapid assessment
ANSWER: ________
RATIONALE:_______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
4. The exercise of collecting information in order to measure the damages and identify the basic needs that require
immediate response as a result of a disaster.
a. Quality of life
b. Rapid assessment
c. Health assessment
d. Health promotion

ANSWER: ________
RATIONALE:_______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Essential functions of the public health as they relate to a disaster are the following, except:
a. Immobilize community partnerships and to identify and solve health problems.
b. Monitoring health status to identify and solve problems.
c. Inform, educate and empower people about health issues.
d. Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.

ANSWER: ________
RATIONALE:_______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

RATIONALIZATION ACTIVITY (THIS WILL BE DONE DURING THE FACE TO FACE INTERACTION)
The instructor will now rationalize the answers to the students. You can now ask questions and debate among yourselves.
Write the correct answer and correct/additional ratio in the space provided.
1. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:_______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:_______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. ANSWER: ________

This document and the information thereon is the property of PHINMA

Education (Department of Nursing) 5 of 6
 RATIO:_______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
4. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:_______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
5. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:_______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

LESSON WRAP-UP (5 minutes)

You will now mark (encircle) the session you have finished today in the tracker below. This is simply a visual to help you
track how much work you have accomplished and how much work there is left to do.

You are done with the session! Let’s track your progress.

AL Activity: CAT: 3-2-1

Instructions:
1. As an exit ticket at the end of the class period
2. After the lesson, have each student record three things he or she learned from the lesson.
3. Next, have them record two things that they found interesting and that they’d like to learn more about.
4. Then, have students record one question they still have about the material.
5. Review the students’ responses. You can use this information to help develop future lessons and
determine if some of the material needs to be taught again.

Three things you learned:

1. ______________________________________
2 ______________________________________
3. ______________________________________

Two things that you’d like to learn more about:

1. ______________________________________
2. ______________________________________

One question you still have:

1. ______________________________________

This document and the information thereon is the property of PHINMA

Education (Department of Nursing) 6 of 6